Landlord Tells Apartment Tenant She Can't Display Flag

A Nebraska landlord told a tenant the American flag she’s hanging outside her window has to come down, but she’s not budging.

KETV of Omaha reports the woman, whose husband is in the Navy, is keeping the flag up until the Red coats come to tear it down. But she doesn’t seem to have any legal ground to stand on because she signed an agreement that said she wouldn’t hang posters, pictures or flags in the windows.

Do you think the woman should get an exception for what appears to be an innocuous display of patriotism?

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Exception? No. Not because I don’t believe in our country but because of one fact – one exception opens the doors to many exceptions. If her landlord allows this, what happens when a person of Greek descent wants to hang their flag? Or an Arab? Or a picture of a casket of a solider?

What if the Greek hangs the Arab with a US flag from a Canadian maple tree in the name of some autoerotic asphyxiation fun? Whoa man. Heavy.

Just take the flag down and put a flag bumper sticker on your car. Or paint your entire car to look like a giant American flag. Or get an American flag tattoo on your forehead. Or petition the Snuggie company to make a US Flag Snuggie you can wear everywhere you go.

The patriotic dream doesn’t have to die on your front lawn. FREEEEEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOM! hehe

And, while it would be simple for them to make a rule, “American flags” only they might get blow back for insensitive to other cultures. Who knows – if they had an american only flag ruling maybe we’d be hearing about a person of another nationality complaining that they were being discriminated against.

It would be very easy for the landlord to allow the display of the American flag but no others – simply amend the rules to allow the display of the American flag. The landlord could do that if he wanted to.

Of course he doesn’t have to. I neither said nor implied that he had to or that he should or that I want him to do that. I said he COULD. Why did I say that? Look at the comment I’m responding to. The guy who is saying that if the landlord allows one kind of flag he has to allow anything else. That’s simply not true.

That would be *patently* illegal, as it would violate Fair Housing. You can’t write a housing contract with restrictions obviously intended to discriminate against anyone based on race, sex, creed, or national origin.

Does that actually apply to a tenant/landlord situation? Doing some digging it looked like this law was intended to cover property OWNERS, not necessarily tenants. In particular the law requires that “the property rights of others are not impaired” in the course of displaying the flags/yellow ribbons. Wouldn’t the landlords property rights factor into this situation?

While not implicity covered by the law, I bet a good lawyer could whip up a legal argument that would convince a judge that a simple flag being displayed by a tenant falls within the spirit of the statute.

I would have to disagree with that if I were the Judge. Actually, I would feel the opposite would be the case.

The state law specifically deals with an organization who is not the owner trying to infringe on the rights of a property owner. In this case, the tenant wants to infringe on the rights of the property owner by not honoring the rental agreement.

The spirit of the law is that the property owner’s rights shall not be infringed when it comes to displays of the flag.

What if the tenant reclassified the flag as a window treatment, a.k.a. a curtain? Certainly there are no clauses in the lease that prohibit a curtain, and any good attorney would spin this as his case instead of trying to play the patriot card. Or, hell… the lady can order a set of blinds with the American Flag on them. There is nothing in the lease saying she can’t hang her own blinds, in fact the lease specifically states that blinds are allowed in the window and makes no mention of the type of blinds.

In my current lease agreement, there is a clause that states that all window coverings must have a plain white or cream backing that faces the outside of the building. My girlfriend has worked in the leasing industry for years, and according to her, this is very common. Every apartment rental company she has worked for in the past 5 years has included clauses very similar. Home rentals seem to be much less restrictive.

That wouldn’t work with any of the leases I’ve ever signed. They all specifically say that any window treatments must be white facing the outside. Blinds, curtians, doesn’t matter.. if it faces the outside it has to be white. I get around this by leaving their blinds on (white blinds) and putting my own curtians on top of them for the color to be on the inside.

Kinda like that old Ford quote, “I don’t care what color you paint the cars as long as when they come out at the end of the line, they are black.” or something like that.

Same in my apartment. Only thing allowed to show in the windows are the blinds. If you hang curtains. The blinds must be lowered. This has nothing to do with showing patriotism, She new when she signed the lease what she could and could not do.

The law is explicitly written to target homeowners’ associations and homeowners. There is no usable analogy between HOAs and landlords, and homeowners and tenants. (The landlords are the “home”owners, after all.) So, no, there is no spirit of the law argument that could be used to take rights away from the owner of a rental unit.

Besides that, depending on the strength of the precedent, the judge would be opening up the possibility of using ALL laws that govern property rights for tenant rights, and vice-versa, to be decided on a case-by-case basis. The ensuing trainwreck would take an entire rewrite of both areas of law to undo. Have fun with that.

The fact that she signed a CONTRACT agreeing not to hang flags in the window is the only law in question. This is not a case of the landlord trying to stop her from hanging up a flag because they don’t want flags in the window, it is a case of a woman breaching a valid contract.

I realize we have lost tons of freedom in the past 10 years, but are we so afraid of Arabs now that we have to restrict the display of the American flag in fear that an Arab will display, I dunno, an Arab-ish (?) flag?

No, the problem is that if we allow only American flags, then people will cry that they can’t display THEIR flag, and the mainstream media will accuse the landlord of being a racist until he lets anyone put up any flag.

Quoting you:
“I realize we have lost tons of freedom in the past 10 years, but are we so afraid of Arabs now that we have to restrict the display of the American flag in fear that an Arab will display, I dunno, an Arab-ish (?) flag?”

I brought them up as an example of “what-if”, not we shouldn’t do it because of terra-rism.

You made the slippery slope argument…that if we let someone display an American flag then someone would want to display something more objectionable….like an Arab flag or anti-war picture.

My reply was simply trying to point out that it was kind of a silly argument to make for the landlord, especially when you have the obvious argument of a signed contract. The reason to not allow her to display the American flag is because she signed a contract preventing her from doing it…not because we want to keep Arabs from displaying their flag of choice.

The argument was “If the landlord allows this flag under these circumstances, the landlord will no longer have any legal footing to disallow other flags under different circumstances.” It doesn’t matter who wants to put a flag up, what flag they want to put up, or what reasons they have for putting it up. The lease agreement said no flags.

Except this has nothing to do with it. The measure is most likely designed to prevent advertising or displays that look like shit. Since a landlord is always advertising the place. That is really the only incentive they have to keep the place looking nice.

Sure the flag is fine, but it would be a head ache to try to decide what is and is not appropriate. It is better to just ban all crap rather than waste time deciding what is good and what is bad.

Understanding the First Amendment is impossible without also reading the 14th Amendment, which extends the rights and restrictions to the state level, too. But I digress.

This isn’t a free speech issue. It’s private property. She’s entitled to possession insofar as she abides by the covenants contained within her lease. The issue of the American flag only inflames the situation, which is unfortunate.

Constituional arguments such as “free speech” do not apply to private property. So no, she does not have a valid argument since the property is owned by the landlord, and he or she can pretty much restrict anything they wish to provided it does not violate any federal, state, or local laws.

Frankly this woman doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on, but of course there will be countless lawyers contacting her to work on the case pro-bono so they can milk it for some free publicity.

Bull. The flag is not necessary to be protected free speech. The Green Day poster is protected free speech too. And the government is not telling her to remove the flag, and therefore the concept of “protected free speech” does not apply. Private entities can set any rules they want regarding what you can and can’t stick on their property. She signed the agreement. She had a choice. If you want to display your flag, don’t move into a building where you can’t put crap in the windows.

While I agree this is not a 1st Amendment isue, the landlord still does not have carte blanche in terms of what rules they can implement. There is a line they cannot cross because it would infringe on their rights. This just happens not to be one.

I’d would argue there’s merit here, except that years of case law regarding HOAs and other such entities/covenents have pretty much sealed the debate on this particular issue. The law is very much against her on this one.

There is no law that says you have the right to fly the flag anywhere/anytime because it is protected under the free speech clause of the first amendment. There are, however, many regulations about properly flying the flag, especially concerning flying the flag 24 hours a day and in inclement weather. I never fly the flag, well, because I never do, but I’m aware of the regulations and it pisses me off when someone disrespects the flag. I’ll bet her flag is not weatherproof and has no lights on it at night. Those are both requirements under the law for hanging a flag. Otherwise, it is to be ceremoniously raised and lowered each day.

I know this argument will come down to her contract. No court will take the landlords right to stipulate what can be done on their property, but the public pressure on the landlord in this case will probably cause the landlord to change his policy. It’s predictable that the public, in its ignorance, will not accept that the law is the law for a very good reason, and start picketing and saying nasty things to the landlord.

It wouldn’t. Is that really the only thing you took away from my posting?

Her display of the flag is a fail. While it is displayed with the stars in the right place (for a change), it looks like she’s using it as a curtain. While I see no regulations about displaying flags in residential windows, it doesn’t exactly look respectful.

No, it was the only part of your comment that I was replying to however. I don’t have any opinion on the rest of your comment. I only have an opinion on the part which reads “[…] it pisses me off when someone disrespects the flag. I’ll bet her flag is not weatherproof and has no lights on it at night. Those are both requirements under the law for hanging a flag. “

Who told you , you could not sign away rights in a contract? In fact, that is what you do in a contract. There is no right to do whatever you want on somebody else’s property. As for the flag, if I want to pee on it, burn it, use it to wipe my ass, there is NO law in existence that can stop me. It is true freedom of speech. Any law that says otherwise is in direct violation of Texas v Johnson.

RTF Act yourself. I got my information from The United States Flag: Federal Law Relating to Display and Associated Questions. As many commenters have posted, that Act protects the property OWNERS. It says nothing about a renters rights to fly the flag.

I have no idea what point you’re trying to make. The number of paragraphs in the agreement doesn’t really have any relevance to the content of the agreement, does it?

From the article: “The manager of The Landings apartment complex said the reason Simonson-Rubenstein received those notices is simple. She said every tenant at the apartment complex signed an agreement saying they won’t hang anything in the windows except for the blinds — no posters, no pictures, no flags.”

Does it really matter if this is spelled out in one paragraph or two or four? The tenant is not disputing she agreed to this; she is disputing that it applies to the American flag.

Any good lawyer could cite the similar circumstances between the situation and the existing law and get a judge to agree. The law is an amazing thing. It not only lectures, it listens. It doesn’t just stand still, it can move and change.

“States that a condominium association, cooperative association, or residential real estate management association may not adopt or enforce any policy, or enter into any agreement, that would restrict or prevent an association member from displaying the U.S. flag on residential property within the association with respect to which such member has a separate ownership interest or a right to exclusive possession or use.”

Near the end of this phrase from the site you referred to. See the word “ownership?” She rents, she does not own. The owner doesn’t want stuff hanging from the window.

There should absolutely not be an exception made for this. The lease says “except for the blinds — no posters, no pictures, no flags.” So yes, no legal grounds to stand on. Moreover, allowing one exception puts the landlord in the position of potentially having to pick and choose exceptions in the future. Should a state flag be allowed? Would you allow the state flag if it’s the relatives of a fallen state trooper? How about a Brazil flag? Could you fly a Brazil flag just during the World Cup? I’m Israeli-can I fly the Israeli flag? But she gets to fly the US flag! Etc., etc., etc.

The apartment complex chose to make things simple for themselves and clear for all, giving warning and notice to its tenants with a simple statement in the lease. If you don’t like the terms of the lease, go elsewhere.

Then the state law needs to be changed. Progressive states have already passed laws which says an HOA can not limit you from displaying an US flag, yellow ribbon, or other signs supporting troops, unless they are a safety risk.

If she had vertical blinds, this would be easy to do…just print out a large flag, cut out strips to size, and tape to the side of the blind facing out. (Would probably work with horizontal blinds too, but would be more difficult)

Usually the lease says that any window coverings must be white. No other reason other than curb appeal. Everyone having different colored curtains, blinds, poster, foil, flags, et al. does tend to make the place look junky.

If she has it outside and mounted then that is not allowed as she doesn’t pay rent on the outside of the apartment.

Personally, I would still put a flag up in a window on holidays but would only leave it up for a few days. I never got any complaints from mgmt. It may already be too late for her though as she done ticked ’em off.

I think this one goes to the tenant, as long as she has “exlusive possession to use” for where she’s displaying the flag.
See the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005:http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/more/hr42.htm

I do like this as it would render such sections of the contract unenforceable, but I fail to understand which part of the law would apply to an apartment complex. It appears to be only about the various forms of HOAs.

Very good link, but have you read it? It says the opposite what you suggest.

“Nothing in this Act shall be considered to permit any display or use that is inconsistent with (…) any reasonable restriction (…) necessary to protect a substantial interest of the condominium association (…)”

Oh blessed irony. She demands that this shows her patriotism, yet she’s encroaching on the apartment complex’s rights to impose reasonable restrictions. She’s slaunting her own rights was infringing on someone else’s rights.

Where I live, there was a similar court case a few years back, and American flags, like satellite dishes, were exempted from the rules. It sounds like she’s not in whatever jurisdiction was covered by that decision, though.

iirc, Satellite dishes, antennas and the like are covered by an FCC regulation which trumps contract law. As long as the device can be installed without damaging the building (e.g., setting the antenna base in a bucket of concrete), the landlord cannot prohibit its use.

Satellite also has to be installed in an area the tenant normally has access to, like a common area. If the only place you can put the dish to get signal is the roof, and access to the roof is restricted, the landlord is under no obligation to give you access so you can put a dish there.

United States Code Title 4 Chapter 1 Â§7i — When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the union should be uppermost and to the flag’s own right, that is, to the observer’s left. When displayed in a window, the flag should be displayed in the same way, with the union or blue field to the left of the observer in the street.

Who gives a shit? You have a husband in the Navy: Guess what? Putting a flag up? Not high on the list of patriotic things being done in the household.

Actually, to be clear: Putting a flag up- unless atop a hill at Iwo Jima, not particularly patriotic in general. It does absolutely no good to the country you’re living in. The founding fathers seemed to have this strange and outlandish notion that patriotism was expressed in civil service and aid to the community at large.

Of course, expecting that from your average modern pseudo/anarcho/Amero-capitalist American who bought into the narrative hook, line, and sinker that being American is to generally not give a shit about other people… that’s a tall order.

I had a friend whose hubby was in the Air Force. She consistently refers to this period of time as “when we were in the military”. As a vet, it drives me crazy. Honey, you weren’t in shit. Your husband was. Get over yourself.

I just had to say, though, that I’ve stayed on a military base with my fiance’s family (his father is in the coast guard). It struck me like summer camp for adults. The whole family would probably refer to themselves as being “in the military” because they’re part of a “cult” that doesn’t have to go more than a half mile to shop for anything, go the movies, see a doctor, etc.etc. Everything is arranged for them at their doorstop.

If she was interested in hanging an American Flag in her window she should have read the contract and negotiated that before signing. I’m as patriotic as the next guy, but this sense of entitlement in America has GOT to stop.

Or moved to a state that has some sense and passes laws which state you can’t prohibit the display of an American flag, yellow ribbon, or other troop support symbols, as long as safely/properly displayed.

While I appreciate your point, GitEm$teveDave, NJ’s law does not bestow upon it the status of “having sense”. NJ is still nonsensical.

GESD is correct. Illegal conditions in a contract are not enforceable, and if they are material to the contract they will usually render the contract void. Just because it is in writing and you sign it does not mean it “IS”.

True, for the most part. That said, hanging things in the window is probably not going to be considered material, the contract likely had a severability clause, and even in the event that the flag-hanging business was considered unseverable and the contract was declared invalid, that means the landlord can evict the tennant (more or less) immediately.

I agree. It is disgusting and absurd. You agreed to a certain set of rules when you wanted to live there. The apartment complex is maintaining its side of the agreement, but you don’t think that you should be held to the agreement that you made in good faith with the apartment complex. You are what is disgusting and absurd about this whole situation, lady, not the apartment complex. If you didn’t like the restrictions, you didn’t have to sign the lease.

Depending on your interpretation of flag code hanging a flag like that might be against flag code. Flag code states that a flag should never be used as drapery, and a flag over a window is arguably drapery.

My god this is going to be awful. No, you have to abide by your rental agreement plain and simple. You can discuss exceptions with your landlord or ask to handle things on a case by case basis but a no is final.

However, because we live in a country of knee-jerk reactions, people aren’t going to consider this simple responsibility of doing what you agreed to. Here’s whats going to happen: Solely because it’s the American flag and her husband is in the Navy, the landlord is going to have a pool-pah descent upon him. His rights be damned, he’s going to face an inordinate amount of pressure and will be essentially forced to allow this woman to do whatever she wants. Please understand that she has the right to move and live somewhere else, but now she’s going to impose her rights as more important than the person who owns the property. It’s pretty sad.

Publicly shame the landlord for his actions? You mean enforcing the provisions that the lady explicitly agreed to? Pointless, self-centered things like this are exactly why corporations treat people like crap. This is nothing more than a stupid lady thinking that she’s entitled to the world on a silver platter, and unfairly deserves an exception to something she bound herself to.

Absolutely not. She signed the lease of her own free will and that included the prohibition against hanging anything in the window except blinds. They wouldn’t give a pass to someone that tried to hang the Jolly Roger in the window, so they shouldn’t give her an exception just because it’s the American Flag and “Oh Noes! If we make her take it down, we’re terrorists who don’t support the troops.”

This entitled b!tch feels that she is too special to abide by the rules, like everyone else.

I bet she runs red lights, speeds, has 21 items in the 15-or-less checkout, parks in fire lanes, doesn’t pick up her dog’s poop, and probably sneaks in an extra 1/2 hour at lunch.

But then she gets caught, and tries to explain why the rules DON’T APPLY TO HER in her “special situation.”
Holy crap, b!tch!! It’s a FLAG!! You agreed not to hang those when you signed your lease. Take it down. It looks like crap and if you don’t like it, BUY A HOUSE AND MOVE!
What’s that? Your credit is not good enough to get a mortgage because you don’t follow credit card agreements either and don’t see why you have to pay your bills on time??? BWAAAAHHAHA!!

Do you even know what a Gold Star flag represents?
It means a close family member, a son, daughter, brother, husband or father died in the service of our country.
No judge would dare uphold such a restriction, even it it were in the lease!
The various veterans organizations would crucify him or her!

Oh, I know what it means. I guarantee you every single person in the world has had at least one ancestor die at one time or another. Many of them probably died in an act of war of some sort. That fact, however, does not give them the right to blatantly disregard a contract entered into by two parties in good faith.

Contract law is explicit in this regard for a reason. The two parties have responsibilities toward each other. The landlord agreed to supply her with a place to live. She agreed to pay him money and to abide by a set of rules. If she doesn’t want to be a responsible adult and perform her duties, the landlord is free to begin eviction proceedings, which are probably spelled out in the lease contract.

Well, that’s yet another reason I love living in NJ. We passed a law which states you can display an American flag. According to NJSA Sec. 45:22A-48.1: “a homeownersâ€™ association may not adopt or enforce rules prohibiting the display of the U.S. flag, yellow ribbons, or signs unless the display â€œthreatens public safety, restricts necessary maintenance activities, interferes with the property rights of another, or is conducted in a manner inconsistent with the rules and customs deemed the property manner to display the flag.â€

Right, and this is not a homeowners association. An HOA is specifically a group of people who own their homes. That law was likely passed because HOAs in the suburban sprawling little-boxes subdivisions thought that American flags would bring down their property values, so they prohibited them. But we now know that to live in the suburbs is to be a real American, so a lot of states passed laws like that.

There is a similar federal law from 2005 that states home owners may not be restricted from hanging flags. That law, nor the New Jersey law you state, are relevant in this situation though, because this is a renter, not a home owner.

If they make an exception for her, they have to make an exception for the guy with the rebel flag or anything truly offensive. I think the apartment complex is trying to control its perception and that’s well within their means.

All the people who keep quoting the NJ law restricting Homeowner’s Associations from preventing display of the US flag are missing an important point: The case in question doesn’t involve an HOA, which doesn’t own the properties it attempts to govern; it involves a landlord, who DOES own the property.

The HOA law prevents HOAs from infringing the rights of the property owners. No HOA involved here, so it’s irrelevant.

Looks to me like it’s the same person quoting it like 3-4 times. I agree though, it seems to me it wouldn’t apply to an *apartment* that one does not *own*.

I lived in an apartment complex once that had the same rules, and one of my redneck neighbors decided to hang a confederate flag in the window, in a sloppy fashion, just like the picture in the article. I asked the management several times to order them to take it down because it made the place look ghetto and embarassing, but they never had the stones to do it. I think they ended up being evicted or taking it down on their own for some reason.

As someone who was born and lived in the north (PA/NJ, 22 years) and has now spent an extended period of time living in the deep south (GA/SC, 1 year), I have to point out that not everyone flies the Confederate Flag with bad intentions.

I don’t have numbers or stats for this, so all I can say is that some people fly that flag as the “rebel” flag in order to celebrate the idea of states’ rights. Since this is simply a political view without any innate negative connotation, it at least speaks to the idea that that flag is not always bad.

GEDS, I have nothing but respect for you, but you would make a terrible lawyer. In this discussion, you’ve now demonstrated that you don’t understand how legislation is interpreted by the judiciary, and also that you don’t really understand how the First Amendment works either. For example, if you signed a contract with a private party stating that you wouldn’t create an “awesome painting,” then you could not, in fact, legally create said painting without defaulting on the contract. Your right to create awesome paintings cannot be infringed upon by the federal government (because of the First Amendment) or the state government (because of the Fourteenth Amendment), but private parties (for example, the landlord in this case) suffer no such restriction.

When you sign a bail bond contract, you’re of couse saying “You guys promise to pay on my behalf and I promise I won’t run”, but you also forfeit the rights to not have your home broken into by a bounty hunter, the right to not be physically detained by said bounty hunter, the right to not have your personal records accessed by said bounty hunter, etc. You basically give up all of the rights that would be infringed on by a bounty hunter in the process of finding you.

(Granted there’s some states that have restrictions or prohibitions on bonds, I don’t recall specifics. This is all taken from a HowStuffWorks.com podcast).

“Homeowners association” is much more limited. I looked at that statute in NJ and it says associations formed to manage parts of property held in common by all the property owners in the association. Put your judge hat on and tell me how that definition also includes landlords and tenants.

Oh and… LOL to the sand monkey comment, LOL to stevedave posting his comment 3842378492842 times, LOL to the people who are “patriots” LOL to the Veterans who are PRO-capitalism and ANTI-establishment AT THE SAME TIME.
L FRICKEN O FRICKEN L to the people who are all for HER EVICTION!

I’m with the landlord on this one. I own a tri-plex – a victorian house that’s been converted to 3 units; I live in one unit, rent the other two. The rental agreement for my tenants specifically states no political posters, signs, or political advertising is to be displayed on the house or on windows, etc. but that Holiday decorations are welcome. If my tenants want to put up a flag around the Fourth of July or pumpkin art around Halloween, so be it. The agreement actually states that Holiday decorations have to be taken down 2 weeks after said Holiday.

My reasoning is that everyone who lives at my address may not agree with something that’s put up so having the outside of the house be neutral is in the best interest of it actually being HOME. I want everyone to be comfortable and feel welcome.

If it’s in her agreement, then she should take it down; if she doesn’t like it, move.

If she so desires she can take a passive aggressive stance by purchasing american flag curtains opening up her blinds and closing her curtains.
What if we charge the situation with a little more emotion? what if her husband was a POW and she was trying to hang the POW flag? I’d have a harder time saying take down the flag which is part of a morning / coping process. As landlord in that instance I may cave or offer to fly the flag on the flag pole. Which could be a good stance with the real issue the landlord could offer to fly her husband’s unit flag or the military branch flag.

No, she should not get an exception. If landlord gives her an exception, he or she will have to give other exceptions or possibly face a claim for discrimination. What happens when someone else wants to display the flag of another country because that is where they are from?

Well, if the rental agreement says no fires, you can’t burn it either.

Please stop with the statements from the Palin School of Constitutional Studies.

The first amendment says the GOVERNMENT can’t stop you from exercising your free speech rights. In a private agreement, you can agree to this. There are some limited exceptions (an employer can’t usually stop you from engaging in speech activities off the clock, etc.), but this is not one of them.

Not really. I’ve never been in an apartment where you can a) change the blinds or b) have additional window coverings behind them that aren’t white to the outside or c) have things in front of the blinds.

No. She signed the contract saying she wouldn’t hang posters, pictures or flags. I don’t know what it is with the people in the stories (or maybe just the consumerist) that thing that even though they signed a contract saying they could/couldn’t do something, they have the right to just break it. From Being late on a mortgage payment to displaying a flag, if you sign a contract and it isn’t expired then you have to abide by it, or leave. Very simple, doesn’t really need the opinion of a mass amount of people.

Who said anything about breaking it. There are rules in the agreement and there are remedies the LL can pursue if those rules are broken. Also, she has every right to shame the landlord. Why do you hate America and the 1st amendment?

Tenants do not have any real power in negotiating these kinds of clauses out of leases. I know when I’ve read these clauses, it never occurs to me that there is a particular infringement upon a right that I might want to have in the future. You just tend to gloss over everything to make sure that the money is right. I’m somewhat sympathetic to this woman, not because I think there should be any particular exception made for a flag, but because what she is doing is probably not harming anyone, and I object to overly restrictive lease prohibitions.

I suppose an apartment complex might not look so nice if everyone hung various and sundry flags and posters in their windows, but it might suit public opinion and free speech a little better to help tenants express themselves in a more upscale way, rather than restrict heartfelt speech altogether.

You mean the 1st amendment rule? What’s the problem here? There’s an agreement the LL is interpreting one way and she is interpreting another. If he feels so strongly that his interpretation is correct then he should commence legal proceedings.

Why do you hate her, America, soldiers and the 1st amendment?? You seem to be targeting her for exercising her 1st amendment right to shame the LL.

The first amendment prohibits congress from abridging free speech, and the fourteenth amendment does the same for states. This is a dispute between two private individuals, so neither amendment applies.

The content of the flag is irrelevant. Whether the flag be American or a favorite sports team. She already made a prior agreement not to fly a flag so this is pretty cut and dry if you ask me. If she is truly patriotic she should honor the contract she signed.

Nope! We live in a free country, and similarly are free to contract as we please. She signed a contract to not hang a flag, and she’s still free to hang it, but the landlord is also within her legal rights to kick the woman out.

The law should side with the landlord in this case, unless congress wants to make it nationwide that anyone has the right to show their patriotism by displaying the flag in their home/car window. Personally I think they should make it so; I mean, we are at war, and a visual show of support for our troops is the least we can do – we should all be doing much much more of course.

What is it with folks who think a contract is some kind of magic spell that must be obeyed? A contract is civil law, anything in a contract can be challenged. Also, just because something is in a contract does not make it right or legal.

I’m a Navy vet, I say let her flay her flag (and yes it is displayed correctly). If they (management) keep giving her grief over it, spread the word and let em take her to court.

People like it when contracts are followed because it gives them,confidence to do business in the world. Why would I contract for things if people could just willy billy break it for reasons important to only them without consequence?

She is welcome to fly her flag against her promise not to do so. She just needs to take responsibility and accept the consequences of her broken promise, which can include eviction and damages. She can dislike it and rail against it all she likes. She will still lose under the law. Maybe the court of public opinion will send her donations to move somewhere else where she can make promises more to her liking.

Not to be a meanie, but this woman signed a rental agreement. Is she able to purchase an apartment approved flag holder and affix it to her door? I think the landlord is just against the flag being in the window, not the flag itself.

Easily solved, make a rectangular plaster cast, paint the stars and stripes on it then put it in the window. It would be a sculpture, the lease did not say anything about a sculpture. Everyone happy. Landlords mistake in not saying nothing could be hung in the windows.

Does anyone have a problem with this woman exercising her 1st Amendment rights? Is there something wrong with this woman publicly shaming the LL utilizing said 1st Amendment rights??

If you said “yes” to the above questions then simply ask yourself “why do you hate America?”!!!

The landlord hasn’t proven that the rental agreement prohibits flags in the window, he is only interpreting the language in a manner that conveys his hatred of the USA. If she concedes and takes the flag down I can only surmise it was because of threats from the LL’s liar, er lawyer, about entangling the poor woman in a protracted and expensive legal fight. Yay for corporations!!!

OK- this is the 2nd posting on this, so I’m not sure its not snark. I know you think Glen Beck and Sarah Palin are infallible, but trust me, they’re wrong here. A few comments:

1) You see, if you actually read that 1st Amendment that you love to reference, it says that the GOVERNMENT (Congress to be specific) can’t abridge your free speech rights. This is not the government, this is two private individuals in a civil matter. And no, having a judge enforce the contract doesn’t make it a 1st Amendment issue. Now she may refuse to honor that judicial order, but then she’ll be liabile for damages and eviction.

2) Just because this guy doesn’t want flags in the windows of his apartment buildings, doesn’t make him less patriotic or hate America. Stay with me here- putting a magnetic yellow ribbon on your giant SUV, doesn’t make you patriotic. Helping your fellow man, standing up everyone’s rights (even the ones you don’t agree with, like here), treating people with dignity and respect, etc. is patriotic.

3) you know that wearing clothing with the flag on it is against the flag code, correct? So when you wear a shirt with the American flag to your Tea Party rallies, you’re violating the flag code, and in your little world, hate America.

Â§176. Respect for flag
No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.
(a) The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
(b) The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.
(c) The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free.
(d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker’s desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.
(e) The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way.
(f) The flag should never be used as a covering for a ceiling.
(g) The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.
(h) The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.
(i) The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown.
(j) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.
(k) The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.

Prelude: beck and palin….the best thing about them ran down their mother’s leg! Hey Ooooooooooooh!

1) I think you missed my point. I’m not saying she has a 1st amendment right to display the flag and the LL is infringing on her right (most people understand it’s the gov’t that shouldn’t be able to control speech), I’m saying, stay with me here, she has a 1st amendment right to speak about the LL’s actions to the media and, in turn, publicly shame the LL into allowing her to keep the flag.

2) The guy could have turned a blind eye…if he loved America. I tried to stay with you but your breadth of discussion lost me.

3) I really don’t care about the flag code (except for the “touching the ground” thing, but that’s more a result of my position as “Flag Boy” in elementary school and my mild OCD, but i digress). It’s a piece of cloth with a beautiful design that’s made in china using child labor and unfair trade practices.

And it’s getting to be regoddamndiculous when a worthless congress attempts to legislate the ability to burn a flag….when that the PROPER FUCKING WAY TO DISPOSE OF A FLAG, per the flag code!!!!

The woman is being denigrated simply for exercising her free speech rights.

Poo. No one is allowed to put ANYTHING in the windows and she’s trying to break the rule. The fact that it is a flag is irrelevant. If it were a poster of an LOLcat, she probably wouldn’t be gathering much support because people don’t lose their everloving minds over LOLcats the way they do over the stupid flag.

Looks to me like she’s being an idiot. The tenant could have gone to the landlord and politely asked for an exception to her rental agreement and there’s a good chance the landlord would have considered that a reasonable request if she proposed a tasteful way of displaying it (say by installing a mount for the flag outside her window at her own expense). However she decided to put a flag up in a way that was against her rental agreement, that isn’t in good taste by using it practically as a curtain, and by not even asking her landlord first. I don’t have much sympathy for her.

I agree with you, Pax. I didn’t see anywhere in there that it applied to anyone other than associations (i.e., multiple-owner dwellings). I think ParingKnife may have limited his reading to the summary, and that part confused his understanding.

The problem with all of this is that if *all* (or the overwhelming majority) of the leasing agreements have the same restrictions, then you are basically *forcing* all of those restrictions onto a “class” in society.

So now you have crossed over from the rights of a property owner to the rights of a societal class. Especially considering the “property owner” is a business venture and not your primary residence.

So yes, this family signed a lease, but whether those leasing terms, in aggregate, are entirely enforceable or border on class discrimination is up for the lawmakers and judicial system to work out.

So yea, it’s not a clear cut as “they signed a lease and the fine print states X,Y and Z”.

No. Take down the damn flag! If it were an Israeli Flag or Tibetan Prayer flags every white person this side of the Mississippi would tell her to stop. The issue isn’t her patriotism or the building owner’s lack of it but rather him trying to keep EVERYONE from putting whatever they want. What goes on for one, goes on for all, or it doesn’t go on.

The landlord is right, she signed a contract and is now trying to tug at emotional heart strings to get her way. I’m all about flying the flag, but a contract is a contract and my personal convictions tell me to honour that when I’m playing by someone else’s rules.

No, she shouldn’t be allowed an exception. This isn’t about patriotism; it’s about the landlord trying to keep the place from looking like crap with a hodgepodge of junk in the windows. When you drive by a place like that, it looks awful. That turns away potential renters.

She signed the agreement so no flag. If she wants to hang one up, let her put it on the wall in her living room.

I wear my patriotism in my heart, not my window. I give back to my community and make a point to thank soldiers for serving their country. hanging a flag outside my window is tacky, except on flag day or the 4th.

It’s not a First Amendment issue because it’s not government action. The Freedom to Display the Flag Act doesn’t apply because by its terms, it applies only to residential real estate where the persons desiring to display the flag have some ownership interest. That is, condo, co-op, HOA, etc. The OP is a tenant and the landlord has the right to set the rules for his own property. A tenant can accept those rules (sign a lease) or live elsewhere.

All that said, I think it does no one harm (yes, I do understand contract) to let the woman hang the flag inside the building, in her window. Her husband is in the Navy, apparently not based in Nebraska because there aren’t too many blue water vessels available in Nebraska. And I’m sure she is viewing her hanging the flag as a gesture of support,

There was a recent case where a veteran was challenged by a municipality on the size of his flag. It was larger than the municipal code permitted. He won. Not on point, but useful.

As a compromise, she could hang the flag from the ceiling, back inside from the window, but visible from outside when she opens here blinds, curtains, whatever. She would be in compliance because nothing was hanging in the window but she’d accomplish her goal at the loss of a little bit of space.

I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this, but what she can do is to start a petition from the other tenants to allow just the American flag to be displayed. It would have to be no bigger than a certain size and enough tenants would have to agree to it before the landlord would consider it.

I live in an apartment complex that has the same rules. I wouldn’t mind it if they allowed flags of the country the tenants are citizens of. I think it would make it more interesting to see different national flags.

There was a similar issue with a landlord tenant in Oshkosh, WI. The landlord had the policy in effect with good intentions but modified it after all the bad press that they had received. The new policy allows for patriotic flags, but would disallow any decorative flags.

So about the pic accompanying this post…
The red stripes are pepperoni, the white stripes are mozzarella, the blue is mozzarella covered in food coloring, and the stars were made by a cookie cutter from slices of cheese ? Does that sound right?

There is no question that the agreement that she was coersed into signing is a violation of her Constitional rights, specifically under the 1st Amendment, therefore it is invalid and her flag can and should indeed fly high! PS What a douchebag anti-American that landlord is.

1) “coersed”? There’s no mention that she did or didn’t willfully sign her lease to live in her apartment. I think suggesting she was “coersed” is irresponsible and unfounded.

2) The first amendment (which I encourage you to go read) specifically prohibits congress from creating laws that abridge free speech, and the fourteenth amendment has the same effect for states. The landlord is a private individual, and the renter signed a lease that does not allow anything (American flags or otherwise) to be hung in the window. Since neither Congress or her state are the ones saying she can’t fly the flag, this is not an issue of constitutionality. The renter would have had the chance to read the lease before signing it, and if she wanted to challenge that part of the lease she would have needed to do so before signing.

3) It’s a good exercise to sometimes look at things from multiple perspectives. What you see is a landlord saying a renter can’t fly an American flag, which of course makes the landlord look un-American. What someone else may see is that the renter is deliberately contradicting a contract that she signed and putting herself above established contract law, while the landlord is defending his right to manage the property he owns as he sees fit.

Your claim that the landlord is “un-American” is a bit of tunnel-vision and selective reasoning.

You can probably tell that I side with the landlord. I’d love to see an American flag flying anywhere, but not at the cost of the laws our founding fathers fought so hard to establish.

Her name is “lawgirl.” Therefore, your comment coerces the violation of her first amendment rights, for our children. You should plead the fifth amendment before she gets all de jure on you or something.

Let’s fix this. Put up blinds that when they are closed, have a print of an American Flag on them. Then you aren’t breaking the rules. You get your patriotism, you don’t break the rules, and nobody will ever hear about this again.

That having been said, why do landlords put this specific clause in a rental agreement? My wife is Brazilian, and when I put a Brazilian flag in (the inside of) my window for the span of one game during the World Cup, the reaction I got was equal to if I had gone on an armed rampage.

Is the landlord concerned with prospective renters being turned off by the flags? “Hmmm… I wanted to live here, but… this place is just too patriotic. I just don’t love America this much, sorry.”

If the issue is that someone may hang a profane or offensive flag, why not put a clause in the rental agreement that says the landlord can tell you to take one down for any reason? That way, an American flag might be able to stay, while your neighbor’s Nazi flag could be removed. And you can’t sue, because you agreed that it is the discretion of the landlord.

Of course not, she signed something. It doesn’t matter if she thinks it’s a stupid rule, that’s not how contracts work. It really doesn’t matter if she wants to hang up a picture of a kitten or the antichrist, a deal’s a deal.

While there should be no exception here, the answer to me seem simple. If the blinds are allowed then get creative. Make the blinds a flag by coloring the slats of the blinds red, white, and blue. Use star stickers on the blue slats to finish your fake, legally compliant flag…